The group of museums includes several sculpture museums surrounding the
Cortile del Belvedere. These are the Museo Gregoriano Profano, with classical sculpture, and others as below:
Museo Pio-Clementino bireme depicted in a
relief from the Temple of
Fortuna Primigenia in
Praeneste (
Palestrina), constructed ; in the Museo Pio-Clementino The museum takes its name from two popes:
Clement XIV, who established the museum, and
Pius VI, who brought it to completion. Clement XIV came up with the idea of creating a new museum in
Innocent VIII's Belvedere Palace and started the refurbishment work. Clement XIV founded the Museo Pio-Clementino in 1771; it originally contained artworks of
antiquity and the
Renaissance. The museum and collection were enlarged by Clement's successor Pius VI. Today, the museum houses works of Greek and Roman sculpture. Some notable galleries are as follows: •
Octagonal Court (aka
Belvedere Courtyard and
Cortile delle Statue): this was where some of the first ancient classical statues in the papal collections were first displayed. Some of the most famous pieces, the Apollo of the Belvedere and Laocoön and His Sons have been here since the early 1500s. •
Sala Rotonda: shaped like a miniature
Pantheon, the room has ancient mosaics on the floors, and ancient statues lining the perimeter, including a gilded bronze statue of
Hercules and the Braschi
Antinous. •
Greek Cross Gallery (
Sala a Croce Greca): with the
porphyry sarcophagi of
Constance and
Saint Helena, daughter and mother of
Constantine the Great. •
Gallery of the Statues (
Galleria delle Statue): as its name implies, holds various important statues, including
Sleeping Ariadne and the bust of
Menander. It also contains the
Barberini Candelabra. •
Sala degli Animali: so named because of the many ancient statues of animals.
Museo Chiaramonti is an ancient Etruscan bronze statue from the late 400s BC; in the Gregorian Etruscan Museum. This museum was founded in the early 19th century by
Pius VII, whose surname before his election as Pope was Chiaramonti. The museum consists of a large arched gallery in which are exhibited several statues, sarcophagi and friezes. The New Wing, or
Braccio Nuovo, built by
Raffaele Stern, houses statues including the
Augustus of Prima Porta, the
Doryphoros, and
The River Nile. It is in the
Neoclassical style and has a wide arched roof with skylights. The
Galleria Lapidaria forms part of the Museo Chiaramonti, and contains over 3,000 stone tablets and inscriptions. It is accessible only with special permission, usually for the purpose of academic study.
Museo Gregoriano Etrusco Founded by
Gregory XVI in 1837, this museum has nine galleries and houses
Etruscan pieces, coming from archaeological excavations in the territory of the Papal State as well as other works already held in the Vatican. The collection include vases, sarcophagus, bronzes, terracotta, ceramics as well as works from the Falcioni and Guglielmi Collections.
Museo Gregoriano Egiziano This museum houses a large collection of artifacts from
Ancient Egypt and also many Egyptian works of Roman production in nine rooms. The Carlo Grassi Collection of bronzes is part of the collection. Such material includes papyruses, sarcophagi, mummies, sculptures and reproductions of the
Book of the Dead. ==Vatican Historical Museum==